Nightwatch Sheet April 2018.
The night sky at 00h on the 15th. April 2018.
New Moon: 16th April, Full Moon: 30th April.
This month Mercury is a morning object; it rises a little before dawn and will be difficult to see as it is low to the horizon. On the 14th the waning crescent moon is to the south of the planet.
Venus is a lovely object in the evening sky; it shines at a brilliant magnitude of -3.8 and is well placed for observing not setting until after 22h. The day old moon passes Venus on the 17th.
The red planet Mars rises just before 03h mid-month and is fairly low down in the sky in Sagittarius. The ringed planet Saturn and Mars make a lovely close pairing on the 2nd Mars will be to the south in a sight visible to the naked eye. On the 7th the moon passes close by both planets and should also make for a lovely sight.
Jupiter rises before 22h and is visible all night long. Although not terribly high in the sky it will make for an excellent object to look at. It shines at magnitude -2.4 in the feint constellation of Libra. The moon passes by twice this month on the 3rd. and the 30th.
First magnitudeSaturn, like Mars, is to be found in Sagittarius as an early morning object. On the second these two planets can be found very close to each other. On the 7th. Saturn is below the moon, so will help find the ringed planet. It becomes easier to see as the month progresses as it rises earlier and earlier than the Sun. An interesting bit of celestial mechanics occurs on the 17th, when Saturn reaches aphelion; this is the furthest point in a planet’s orbit from the sun. Unlike the Earth which reaches aphelion once a year (in the northern hemisphere winter) Saturn only reaches aphelion every 29 and a half years.
On This Day…
90 Years Ago - April 11th. 1928: First manned rocket-powered car tested by Fritz von Opel and Max Valier in Berlin. It was driven by racing driver Kurt Volkhart. It reached atop speed of 62 miles per hour.
85 Years Ago - April 3rd. 1933: First aeroplane flight over Mt. Everest. Two aeroplanes flew together and were piloted by Flight Lieutenant D.F. McIntyre and Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, otherwise known as Lord Clydesdale.
60 Years Ago – April 2nd. 1958: President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposes the establishment of NASA in a special message to the United States Congress.
5 Years Ago – April 21st. 2013: Alexander, Bell, and Graham CubeSats launched at 4:00 p.m. EDT by an Antares rocket fromWallops Flight Facility, in Virginia. The CubeSats were the first use of off-the-shelf smart phones as satellitecontrol and navigation computers. The launch marked the first operational flight of the Antares rocket.
The first Rocket Car. NASA logo celebrating 60 years.